Black Christians : "Forgive And Forget"

Have we not truly forgiven someone if we can not "forget" his or her "trespasses against us?"

Do we only give "lip service" to forgiveness if we do not, afterwards, treat that person as if he/she had never hurt us?

 

Matthew 18:

[21] Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
[22] Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

 

people don't EVER FORGET a wrong,we're human,yes you can forgive a wrong but not forget it,i don't care how small the transgression everytime that you see the person it's gonna pop up in your mind and anyone who says that they can forget a wrong done to them is not being honest.

 

If this European nonsense has any actual reality to it then we may as well just forget and forgive any and every atrocity by white people against our people and go on as if nothing ever happened....now wouldn't that be a wonderful christian thing to do?...and realistic too, huh? While we're at at, give me your address so I can have somebody come over, bust you in your head and take your stuff...all you got to do is forgive and forget...everything will be alright.

 

Here you go:

3120 Maple Dr N.E.
Atlanta, Georgia 30305

 

What Does the Bible Say About Forgiveness?​

Frequently Asked Questions About Forgiveness​

By Mary Fairchild, About.com Guide​

It is not uncommon for Christians to have questions about forgiveness. Forgiveness does not come easy for most of us. Our natural instinct is to recoil in self-protection when we've been injured. We don't naturally overflow with mercy, grace and forgiveness when we've been wronged.

Is forgiveness a conscious choice, a physical act involving the will, or is it a feeling, an emotional state of being? The Bible offers insight and answers to these and many more common questions about forgiveness. We'll take a look at the most common questions and find out what the Bible says about forgiveness.
Is forgiveness a conscious choice, or an emotional state?

I believe forgiveness is a choice we make through a decision of our will, motivated by obedience to God and his command to forgive.
The Bible instructs us to forgive as the Lord forgave us:

Colossians 3:13
Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. (NIV)

• More on What is Forgiveness?
How do we forgive when we don't feel like it? How do we translate the decision to forgive into a change of heart?

We forgive by faith, out of obedience. Since forgiveness goes against our nature, we must forgive by faith, whether we feel like it or not. We must trust God to do the work in us that needs to be done so that the forgiveness will be complete.
I believe God honors our commitment to obey Him and our desire to please him when we choose to forgive. He completes the work in his time. We must continue to forgive (our job), by faith, until the work of forgiveness (the Lord's job), is done in our hearts....

http://christianity.about.com/od/whatdoesthebiblesay/a/bibleforgivenes.htm​

 

That's very good! I like this a lot. I never really thought of it as an act of faith until the Lord's job is done. That makes a lot of sense.

But like some of the earlier posters alluded to, I think 'the forgetting' aspect also needs to be brought out some more in terms of understanding the full meaning of 'forgiveness'. The Bible tells us how our Creator is merciful and offers us grace and pardons our sins and trespasses and etc., but he also consecrated mandatory observances of which are actually based upon 'remembrance' and not 'forgetting'. For example, Passover is based upon remembering that God 'passed over' the sins of certain human beings at that time, and it was also to set the stage for Jesus tohave to come much later in time and do it again! God did not want the Israelites to ever forget that he had to deliver them out of terrible bondage from the Egyptian system. But I would think that he doesn't mean that he wanted the Israelites to 'not be forgiving' of what the Egyptians did to them. i would believe that he wanted them to be forgiving but still, they were told not to bond with the Egyptians and certain others for a time.

i mean, the israelites had to put up a defensive fight against being attacked after they crossed over the red sea by others too and they couldn't forget these actions, however, they could still be forgiving. Then the time when the priest told the people during the persian empire times, that because of something that happened between them and the descendants of Lot, I think, they had to put up some kind of boundaries and etc. So I think that Christians need more clarity about 'the forgetting' aspect of forgiveness and i think that Black African Americans have been severely misled byway of the anti-Christ due to what they spoon fed us in regards to slavery. They used the Bible deceitfully to try and explain away their evil acts by saying that now that slavery is over, we need to 'do the Christian thing' and put that past behind us, and to forget...

Again, the Israelites were given a mandatory command to always observe the fact that they were put under severe captivity and to serve God and the government that he set up for us.

So my issue is that we can forgive and pardon sins and wrongdoings done towards us but as you brought out, how does this translate? You really cause me to think on this one and i never even considered that we do have to just have faith that God will do it, he will bring it to completion if we are willing and take a conscious step to forgive others and not be resistant to having a chance at another relationship. i guess by taking a conscious step, it also stops a person from acting on feelings of revenge and retaliating. It gives a person the power, the power to not pursue feelings of anger and hurt and etc. I know it brings me much peace when i come to a decision not to follow someone up if they strike out at me. I would definitely be guarded but not aggressive.

Thanks for posting this, it is really helpful.

 

Yes, I do feel i have forgiven people for wrongs done to me.[Although this doesn't mean i would continue to want certain people in my life...especially if i feel it would cause more harm then good.]Although this forgiveness did not come over night.

I do tend to believe sincere religious people are more forgiving then others or try to be.

 

I have tried to forget, but impossible for me, but I can forgive. If god asks me to forget I have to tell him I cant.